Ryanair loses High Court bid in London to block strikes by its UK pilots


Devdiscourse News Desk | London | Updated: 21-08-2019 22:07 IST | Created: 21-08-2019 21:42 IST
 Ryanair loses High Court bid in London to block strikes by its UK pilots
Image Credit: Twitter (@Ryanair)
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  • United Kingdom

Ryanair has lost a High Court bid in London to block strikes over pay dispute by its pilots based in the United Kingdom. The airline said, "Ryanair regrets the decision by less than 30% of our highly paid UK pilots to vote for strikes on Thursday 22nd & Friday 23rd August." 
 
The company said the strikes are, " in support of unreasonable pay demands that Captains pay be DOUBLED from a current £170,000 p.a. to over £375,700 p.a., just 9 weeks before BREXIT, which could severely damage Ryanair’s business and UK pilot jobs."
 
The strikes planned for August 22 and August 23 will be carried out. However, the airline said the decision to go for the strikes has been taken by a small number of pilots which is less than 30 percent. Therefore, significant disruption is not expected on Thursday and Friday but small flight delays and/or flight changes can not be ruled out.
 
The airline said, "We are working hard with our pilot teams to minimize any such delays for our customers and their families."
 
"All passengers scheduled to travel on flights to/from UK airports on Thurs 22nd & Fri 23rd Aug should arrive at their departure airport as normal and they can expect their scheduled Ryanair flight to depart on time," the company said in a statement.
 
BALPA General Secretary Brian Strutton said, "In the event that Ryanair rejects our overture and therefore the action over the next two days does go ahead, we apologize to the passengers who will be affected. Such an action could have been avoided if Ryanair adopts a different approach. Ryanair was foolish to bring this into the High Court rather than the negotiating room. We offered to meet Ryanair management at ACAS to negotiate a resolution, but instead, they attempted a legal bludgeon. That’s backfired. However, we are clear that we want to settle the dispute and bring about a change in Ryanair for the better."
 
"Pilots in Ryanair are seeking the same kind of policies and agreements that exist in other airlines – our demands are not unreasonable. We want to address issues like pensions; loss of license insurance; maternity benefits; allowances; and harmonize pay across the UK in a fair, transparent, and consistent structure. We hope that Ryanair will take up our offer of a way forward this evening so we can call off this action. We urge Ryanair to change their attitude in dealing with us and adopt a constructive approach," he further added.
 
 
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